


Red Bat of the Family

by CloakedSparrow



Series: Collected Bat-Family Stories [10]
Category: Bat Family (DCU), Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Under the Red Hood
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Bat Family, Family Bonding, Gen, Guns, Mention of Child Abuse, Minor Character Death, No Romance, No Sex, Shooting, Sibling Bonding, of The Joker's henchmen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-11-11 00:59:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11138082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloakedSparrow/pseuds/CloakedSparrow
Summary: Or: Jason and his siblings try to make it work despite the gun thing.





	Red Bat of the Family

Everyone knows that Batman despises guns. Only a selected few know why. His children, of course, are among them. Due to this knowledge (and their training and Bruce’s insistence) they never use guns.

Except for Jason Todd.

To Jason, guns are tools. Yes, they can be used for terrible crimes. They can end and ruin lives. They can also be used to save them, to protect innocents.

But Bruce never asked about his reasoning so Jason never explained. In the end, they silently decided that they could never work together. Sometimes Jason is pleased by this. Sometimes he thinks it sucks. In either case, it is what it is. He knows better than to try to change Bruce’s mind and he knows he's just as stubborn himself. 

So back to; Jason and Bruce never work together. Because Bruce despises guns and Jason refuses to put his away for his father’s stubborn ideals.

His siblings, however, are another story. They actually want to work with Jason. Want to spend time together, even if they don’t see eye to eye. They don’t demand subordination, only respect. They’re willing to respect him in turn.

Dick is okay (sort of) with the guns. He's a cop by day, after all. He just asks that Jason use them to coerce or disarm first and only shoot to kill if its absolutely necessary.

Cassandra is comfortable around weapons of any kind. She was raised to be the world’s greatest assassin, after all. She's not okay with killing but anything short of it is fine by her as long as Jason isn’t terrorizing anyone unnecessarily.

Tim, to Jason’s surprise, asked about his reasoning and agreed that guns are tools. He is very analytical, after all, so it probably shouldn’t have been a surprise. Tim doesn’t agree with Jason killing though; he thinks one person doesn’t have the right to make that choice. He tried to compromise, he gave a Jason a box of custom made non-lethal ammunition.

The rubber bullets were red and in their brass casings, they resembled Jason’s helmet sticking out of his coat. The nano-technology Tim hid inside guaranteed that each bullet would deteriorate before local law enforcement could examine them. This actually made them safer to use than standard bullets for Jason as well.

Tim only asked that Jason consider using them when he was in a situation where he knew killing wasn’t necessary. That way, he wouldn’t be tempted.

That was all fair enough. Jason tries to shoot for the shoulder or the knee when he’s with Dick. He tries to fire a warning shot every time he’s with Cassandra. He even uses the non-lethals when he’s been given enough warning before working with Tim.

Its not perfect, but he tries. His siblings seem to appreciate the effort.

The first time he joined Dick on a bust at the docks and didn’t kill anyone, his big brother sent him a cookie cake that said ‘I’m so proud of you!’ in chocolate chips. The first time he pistol whipped a drug lord instead of shooting him, his sister gave him a fist bump and said ‘good job’. The first time he used the non-lethals, his little brother brought him materials to make more, along with a pizza from Bat-Pizzas, where the toppings were shaped like the bat symbol of your choice. Jason appreciated that Tim selected the unpopular ‘Red Hood Bat’ shape instead of the classic bat.

Sometimes, Jason just can’t keep to this truce he has with his siblings. For instance, if he sees, hears or smells anything that indicates The Joker is behind whatever mayhem he and his siblings are facing, he’s shooting first and asking questions after the morgue has processed the bodies. Also if he believes the criminal _really_ deserves it, like someone who misuses children or partakes in human trafficking. Or if one of his siblings is in direct mortal danger.

Dick, Cassandra and Tim seem to think this is fair enough too. They don’t give him a hard time when he breaks the no killing rule for these reasons.

The first time in a long time that he killed someone in Dick’s presence, it had been some of The Joker’s old henchmen. Dick and Jason weren’t sure if they still were affiliated with the psycho clown. Dick had looked disappointed, but said nothing against it beyond the initial ‘Jason, no!’ when he’d realized his brother was making kill shots.

Cassandra merely said ‘prison would have been better’ the first time he killed in front of her again after one of her cases crossed within his territory. The guilty party had been a cat burglar who also had a habit of molesting children in the homes she broke into. Jason didn’t feel the slightest bit bad about it and Cassandra didn’t seem inclined to try to make him once she said her piece.

The first time (in a while) that he’d killed someone near Tim was a little more complicated. They weren’t actually together. Jason spotted Tim taking on some members of a local crime family in an alley and stopped to watch. His little brother seemed to have the situation well in hand, so Jason decided not to intervene.

Until he saw a man behind Tim raise a crowbar.

Jason shot him once, killing him instantly, without even being aware that he’d drawn his gun. Tim had already knocked out two of the criminals and a third surrendered to him after the shot while the fourth guy ran. As soon as he had the men secured and alerted the police, Tim contacted Jason to confirm he’d been the one to take the shot.

Even from a distance, Jason saw the moment Tim’s eyes landed on the crowbar. His little brother actually asked if _he_ was okay. Jason’s answer was unkind, but Tim seemed to understand that it wasn’t personal.

They didn’t talk about it. None of them brought it up after such incidents. As far as Jason could tell, his siblings didn’t tell their father about these instances either. He never received any lectures of disappointment or warnings to stay away from the family.

At first, Jason couldn’t figure it out. He knew his siblings disapproved of killing just as much as their father. He knew he hadn’t been the best brother before or after his death. So he wasn’t sure why they would cut him that slack. Why they were willing to compromise to keep him around.

He knew it couldn’t be an easy choice for them.

Finally, one day, he asked Dick in what he hoped sounded like a combination of simple curiosity and casual teasing. The smile Dick gave him before he answered told him he might have showed his hand a little more than he’d expected.

“You’re family.” Dick draped an arm around Jason’s shoulders as he explained. Smile still in place. “Families stick together, even if they have to work out a few kinks.”

“Shooting people is hardly a kink, Dick.”

That’s when the smile shifted. Jason had forgotten how serious Dick could be, how intense his eyes could become.

Dick moved so he was looking his brother in the eye. “No matter what our differences, you’re still our brother. We aren’t going to lose you again. Not over this.”

Dick’s smile returned, but did nothing to lesson the intensity of his conviction. “Besides, guns or not, you’re still one of the good guys. No matter what you say. You just have some bad days.”

Jason scoffed at the understatement.

“What do you think, guys?”

As Jason cursed under his breath, Tim and Cassandra dropped down via grapple from wherever they’d been hiding.

“Seriously? Have you been up there the whole time?”

“ _You_ passed _us_.” Apparently Cassandra felt that was all the explanation needed.

“We were on reconnaissance tonight,” Tim offered. “Dick walked you right under us.”

After Dick established that the youngest Waynes had gotten whatever information they’d been after, the little sneak turned the conversation back to Jason.

“Dick is right... _Brother_.” Cassandra gently punched Jason on the shoulder as she passed him. She hit it under a stretch but the sparkle to her eyes gave her away. Dick’s grin as he walked beside her suggested he’d caught that too.

Tim fell into step beside Jason as they followed the others. “He’s right about the rest of it, too.”

“Yeah. Sure.” It wasn’t like he could argue that Tim didn’t know the violence he was capable of. He decided on a different tactic. “You try telling B that?”

“We don’t have to. He knows, otherwise you’d be incarcerated.” Tim hesitated before speaking further, clearly uncertain about whether he was crossing a line or not. “He still misses you, you know.”

Jason thought Tim’s sleep deprivation might be affecting his thought process.

It must have shown on his face.

“Really.” Tim sounded more confident now. “He just...doesn’t know what to do. The same as you. And also like you, his response to that has been to do nothing. He cares about you as much as you care about him."

Jason normally acted like he didn’t care about Bruce much, but he knew his siblings didn’t buy it. Tim knew exactly what he was saying

“He hasn’t gotten any better at showing it,” Dick added without turning around. "You know how he is.”

Jason thought of the few times he’d interacted with Bruce since the whole ‘kidnapping The Joker’ incident. There were a lot of looks of disappointment, words spoken in a tone of disapproval. A brief attempt to try to talk Jason back under his shadow. A few moments of impressed silence. There was also a pained look Jason could only assume was guilt or shock.

Then Jason thought back further, to a time he generally tried not to remember these days. To the time when things were good between him and his father. There was the same look of disappointment when Jason didn’t seem to be taking something seriously enough. The same tone of disapproval when Jason got too rough with the criminals they were facing. The same impressed silence when Jason did something that pleased him. The pained look was the only thing new.

Bruce was just holding his son to the exact same standards he always had.

“Huh.”

“It took a while for him to figure out how to work with Nightwing too.” Dick turned around and walked backwards so Jason could see his face. “Its hard for him to acknowledge when the birds are ready to leave the nest. The guns’ll take a little longer to work out, but he’ll come around.”

Jason wouldn’t admit it, but that was a comforting thought.

Dick turned again to look where he was going after Cassandra tugged him to avoid walking into a pole. “You coming to the manor for a bite?” He asked as if it was something Jason did. As if it was something he _could_ do.

“Alfred said he was making Coq a Vin,” Tim added as though trying to entice Jason with Alfred’s cooking. As though he _wanted_ him there. As though the only one who had been keeping Jason from joining the family for dinner was Jason himself.

Maybe it _was_. Dysfunctional though it might be, it seemed Jason hadn’t ever been completely discounted from the family. 

“I’ll be damned.”

“That means yes,” Cassandra remarked with a smile in her voice.

Alfred greeted Jason with the same courteous warmth he greeted the others. He added that it was nice to see him without the dire circumstances that usually brought him to the manor. He also asked after his health and inquired into his diet in a British grandfatherly manner.

He took Jason’s jacket and his guns, informing him that the ‘no weapons at the table’ rule still stood. It was said in that way Alfred had, where you couldn’t be sure if he was teasing you a bit or if you were imaging it. It immediately put Jason at ease. 

In other words, it was just the usual Alfred.

He asked a few questions about the reconnaissance Tim and Cassandra had worked on. He asked Dick and Jason about the weapons shipment they’d interrupted that night. He reminded Dick about a charity event he was expected to attend that weekend and asked Tim if he’d finished his homework.

It was the closest thing to a normal family dinner Jason had experienced in years. He didn’t bother to enter any of their conversations. Instead, he ate and let the voices of his family wash over him. It was nice, peaceful.

Cassandra didn’t talk much, as usual. Instead she seemed focused on getting as much food into herself as possible. By the others’ reactions, Jason gathered that this was normal of his sister.

Dick asked Tim about an issue he’d been having with some bullies at school. Apparently Tim was caught between teaching the bullies a lesson and keeping his fighting prowess hidden, lest anyone question how he learned such skills. Jason wondered why Dick didn’t just wait at the school to catch the bullies and teach them a lesson himself. It wasn’t like he’d have to actually hurt the kids to scare them off.

Alfred asked Dick about his current case as Detective Grayson and inquired as to whether he’d made any progress in befriending his new partner. It seemed the man was unused to Dick’s friendly nature and devotion. Jason couldn't blame the guy; it took a while to get used to. And it took time to see that Dick was sincere.

Tim and Cassandra started talking about the Artemis Fowl series, which she’d recently heard Alfred speak of and thought she might try reading. She figured young adult novels about a detective should be right up her alley, both in interests and reading level. Tim admitted he’d never read them (Jason got the impression the boy hadn’t read much modern fiction) and turned to ask Jason if he had.

He hadn’t. He thought Roy might have mentioned them once, but he was pretty sure Cassandra didn’t care about Roy’s opinion on literature. Jason was honestly a little thrown at how easily his little brother and sister had just included him in their conversation. 

Before he could work out what he was feeling, Alfred appeared at his shoulder.

“Will you be staying for desert, Master Jason? I’ve made some lovely baked apples, if I do say so myself. Are you still fond of cinnamon?”

“Yeah.” Jason knew he shouldn’t be that surprised that Alfred remembered his favorite flavors. The man remembered everything about his charges. Still, it was nice to be remembered.

Nicer still to be wanted.

He offered a small smirk. “’Course, I’m sure anything you made would taste ‘lovely’, Alfie.”

Alfred smiled in return and gave Jason’s shoulder a pat before heading for the kitchen. Tim grabbed Jason’s dirty plate without comment and followed Alfred with a stack of dishes, insisting that their Butler-slash-surrogate-grandfather accept some help.

Bruce arrived shortly after they all started desert. He didn’t greet any of his children individually, but he definitely took note of them all. He only gave Jason a seconds longer glance than the rest, but it was enough that Jason knew he was surprised to see his second eldest at the table with his siblings.

Before, Jason would have said something snarky, taking the reaction as a sign of unwelcome. His recent realization caused him to consider other options though. Such as the fact that his father might simply have been caught off guard, which was something he didn’t take well. Bruce made no comment or motion to remove Jason, so he stayed put.

Bruce sat down at the head of the table as Alfred placed a cup of tea and a plate of food in front of him before taking his own seat. Bruce thanked Alfred and then took stock of his children once more. He spoke neutrally as he cut his food. “How did tonight go?”

Dick was the first to answer, talking about leaving Tim and Cassandra to handle their current case while he went to check out rumors about a weapons shipment at the docks. He talked about teaming up with Jason as if it were natural. He seamlessly shifted from report mode to storytelling mode, laughing a little as he talked about fighting beside Jason and how ill equipped the weapons smugglers were to handle the pair of them.

Bruce didn’t interrupt, didn’t seemed surprised or disappointed that Dick had allowed Jason to join him. He didn’t ask about methods or any details beyond what Dick offered. He only checked that they were unharmed and asked if they thought the smugglers were something they would have to look out for again.

And just like that, Jason was sitting at the table with his entire family, listening to his father and big brother talk shop and his younger siblings talk to Alfred about books. It was something that had never happened before.

This time, when Tim asked Jason if he’d read The Once and Future King while Cassandra looked at him with interest, he answered more thoroughly, allowing himself to be included in the discussion.

It wasn’t a happy ending, because it was far from the end of it. They still had some kinks to work out, as Dick had said. Jason and Bruce didn’t speak directly to each other much and he didn’t know enough of his siblings personal lives to ask after them the way he wanted to. It was a good start though. One Jason would take and run with as best he could.

He might be the black sheep of the family, but it seemed he still belonged in the flock.


End file.
